NEO attorneys Michele Berger and Gene Takagi wrote this article on crowdfunding published in The Nonprofit Quarterly on June 28, 2016.

As was evident after the horrific shooting in Orlando on June 12th, crowdfunding has become the most visible, and arguably the most effective, way to quickly raise money and awareness for a charitable cause triggered by an event. The Nonprofit Quarterly previously reported that a single crowdfunding campaign to support the Orlando victims raised $4 million from more than 87,000 people within a day after the attack. And five days later, reportedly, more than 300 crowdfunding campaigns raising $6.2 million for victims of the shooting were set up on GoFundMe, which is just one of more than 2,000 crowdfunding websites.

However, while the magnitude and reach of crowdfunding are substantial, there remain many misperceptions and issues to be understood and managed by nonprofits, donors, and regulators.